Thousands of walruses are stranded together on an Alaskan beach

In
2014, about 35,000 walruses came ashore in Point Lay, Alaska,
because the sea ice they would normally rest on melted. According
to recent reports, it has started to happen
again.REUTERS/Corey
Accardo/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/NMML/Handout via
Reuters

Last September, somewhere around 35,000 walruses crowded ashore
in Point Lay, Alaska, driven to land because the Chukchi Sea ice
floes they'd normally rest on had melted.

This year, which had a
record low amount of winter sea ice in the Arctic, a massive
walrus "haul out" has started to happen again.

Photographer Gary Braasch first spotted the
walruses hauling themselves ashore on a barrier island at Point
Lay August 23 while doing a flyover near the area.

Braasch
told Chelsea Harvey at The Washington Post that he shot his
images from more than a mile away from the walruses — the above
image is cropped — which is necessary to avoid scaring them and
causing them to panic and stampede, crushing and killing younger
and smaller members of the herd.

Still,
The Guardian reports that US Fish and Wildlife Service
officials are investigating whether Braasch's flight could have
put the creatures at risk, and Harvey explains that the local
tribal council president was still angered by the flyover and the
potential disruption it could have caused.

An
image from the 2014 haul out. This year, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service says there are about 5,000 or 6,000 walruses there so
far.REUTERS/Corey
Accardo/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/NMML/Handout via
Reuters

Stampedes aren't the only risk in a walrus haul out. The lack of
sea ice that drives them to shore means they're further from
their food supply.

This year, the Fish and Wildlife Service told the Post that there
are already between 5,000 and 6,000 walruses on shore in August.
Haul outs don't usually start until September, but they're
happening more in recent years as Arctic sea ice continues to
decline. Experts expect more walruses to gather through October.